With the Heritage Hill Garden Tour on Saturday, I wasn’t able to play in the dirt until Sunday. Most of the day was spent deadheading and pruning. We had a stellar Spring season and a beautiful beginning to Summer. The plants on the Lot are still about two weeks ahead of last year’s dates. In Ms. A’s full sun beds, the plants are even further ahead.

Already, most herbs on the Lot are wildly overgrown. Last year many of our herbs grew ill because of the ridiculously wet Spring and dense growth of the plants. The Catnip was lost to powdery mildew. (I know, who could possibly kill Catnip?!) This year the growing season doesn’t seem nearly as wet, but I’ve tried to pay special attention to allowing enough air to circulate between and through the plants. The Chocolate Mint, Salad Burnet, and Winter Savory were thinned by trimming out the oldest (largest) stalks near the base of the plant. The Tarragon was cut back by 1/3, leaving about a foot and a half of height. The Sage, Lemon Thyme and Oregano are on the radar for tomorrow. I’d like to look up each one on the Lot for specific care instructions.

Deadheading befell the Foamflower (long overdue because the seed heads are pretty), Beardtongue, Roses, Early Sunrise Coreopsis, Dahlia and some more Jupiter’s Beard. I also went through three hanging baskets and containers deadheading annuals. Tomorrow some Lilies and Blanket Flower will be losing some spent blossoms.

In full bloom after this weekend are the Bridal Veil Astilbe, Purple Knockout Salvia, White/Dark Bee Delphinium, Hollyhocks, Moonbeam Coreopsis, Tequila Sunrise Coreopsis, Snapdragons, and Chameleon Plant. The Hostas, Nicotiana, Key West Astilbe and Gayfeather are all well on their way to producing blooms.

The most exciting news this past weekend was an unexpected visitor to the Lot. My Other Half and I were chatting in the backyard, me pruning and he keeping our four-legged garden helpers out of trouble and vegetable beds, when we heard this low buzzing/humming type of noise. When we looked over at the back bed, sure enough there was a ruby throated hummingbird dancing around the Jupiter’ Beard! It’s hard to withhold a squeal of delight when you see something that cool. We make efforts to lure this beneficial-to-the-garden type of wildlife to the Lot. As soon as the little guy buzzed away, my Other Half took off for the kitchen to whip of a batch of Mom G’s hummingbird feed. The feeder is now filled and ready for any additional visits. Next up will be a minature terry cloth robe and pillow mint.